The Golden Dragon Acrobats will perform at Saginaw's Temple Theatre.Eric English | eenglish@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI – There’s more than just 25 centuries of Chinese culture hanging in the balance when the Golden Dragon Acrobats take the stage Saturday, Oct. 13, at Saginaw’s historical Temple Theatre.

For costumer/choreographer Angela Chang, who is married to troupe owner Danny Chin-Chang Chang, it’s also a matter of upholding her family’s time-honored tradition, passed from father-in-law Lien Chi Chang to his son.

And nearly 30 years after formally introducing it to American audiences, she must give it the contemporary spin that will draw them back, despite what the Changs soon discovered was a cross-the-board aversion to traditional Chinese music.

“They didn’t hate it but they don’t enjoy it,” she said, calling from the offices in Texas where the Golden Dragon Acrobats are now based. “Now my husband has gone through more than 5,000 pieces of music, one at a time, by hand, to give us the contemporary blend we need, along with everything else he does.

“We call it his second life; night by night, day by day, it has taken on a life of its own.”

But when it’s done right, “I look at the chair trick, where simple chairs are stacked over the audience with a young boy balancing on the top and doing a flip. It’s a routine I’ve watched for more than 30 years and it’s still amazing. It still catches at the bottom of my heart, feeling the same fear and joy I see on the faces watching it.”

That’s one, she says, that will never leave the program. But everything else is open to interpretation as the Changs together work out a production that plays on the strengths of their performers brought here from Taiwan.

It is because of them that the Golden Dragon Acrobats can say it is the only Chinese acrobatic team touring year-round in the United States. But it is the precision, the colorful costuming and the captivating blend of the exotic and the contemporary that keep people coming back.

And unlike music or television, this is an art that translates well wherever they take it, no matter the language barriers. In 2005, it even hit Broadway where it drew New York Drama Desk nominations for the Changs, Danny for Unique Theatrical Experience and Angela for the best choreography.

“It’s done in silent language, understood by everyone from the smallest child to the elders, the grandparents. It is good for the whole family,” Chang said. And it’s beautiful, chimed in Temple executive director Julie Nunn.

“There’s no way to describe it,” she said, trying to help others picture the spinning plates, the fans, the bike rides that defy logic.

While Danny Chang grew up in the business – his father left what was then called the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats to take a head coaching job at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. He’s now retired, Angela Chang said, but still has plenty to teach.

And she has a lot to learn, she said, since her education in the Chinese Culture University focused on dance and the arts. She married into the acrobatic world and has since worked hard to marry the two disciplines.

“It really is amazing,” she said. “We make very different connections here, and our performers make it in a very short time. While I am learning more about them, about their very different personalities and what I need to know to choreograph the show, I am learning more about the business myself, too.

“In this year’s tour, we have new styles in with the traditional. It’s very different and our acrobats are very excited about it. It has audiences in Europe and South America screaming and crying when their young casts do it.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see.”

The Golden Dragon Acrobats perform at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Temple Theatre, 203 N. Washington in Saginaw. Tickets, available at the box office, by calling 989-754-SHOW or online at templetheatre.com, cost $60, $50, $30 and $20 for adults and $10 for youth when purchased with an adult admission.